The Notebook: He Said, She Said

SHE (R.-N.Y.) SAID, HE (R.-GA.) SAID

(TIME, April 27) -- Newt Gingrich and Susan Molinari have both written new memoirs. The common experience of the House Speaker and the former
Congresswoman seems to end there:

Newt: "Christmas is a slow news time, and this story [of the
settlement of his ethics case] dominated the media...the story
cycled through CNN virtually every half hour for three or four
days."

Susan: "That settlement was made public just as Americans were
caught up in their final frenzy of Christmas shopping, so the
announcement made a remarkably light impression on voters."

Newt: "I was thinking about long-range planning when what I
should have been doing was making sure we could get through the
summer of 1997."

Susan: "By the time we reached summer 1997...[he] was still
trying to micromanage even the minutiae of House life."

Newt: "I...was essentially a political leader of a grass-roots
movement seeking to do nothing less than reshape the federal
government along with the political culture of the nation."

Susan: "Finally, Newt's face began to quiver...'It's so hard
being at the center of a worldwide movement.'"

Northern Ireland: Approval of the Deal Is Likely, Not Unanimous

Polls indicate that more than 70% of voters support the Northern
Ireland peace agreement, which must be approved in a May 22
referendum. The campaign, however, has just begun, and will
clearly be nasty in the North. PETER ROBINSON, deputy leader of
IAN PAISLEY'S Protestant Democratic Unionist Party, called the
agreement "the mother of all treachery." He also told TIME that
should PRESIDENT CLINTON visit the province to encourage support
for the agreement, as has been proposed, "we will not give him a
free hand to go around and do whatever he wants. He will be
subject to the cut and thrust of the hustings of Northern
Ireland political campaigns." Paisley's party is well known for
its gangs of bullyboys who play rough during elections. Could
Robinson be threatening disruptions? "One thing we will not do
is give prior warning of our intentions," he replied. The White
House says there has been no decision, but Paisley's opposition
will be "irrelevant" to what Clinton does. On the Catholic
side, GERRY ADAMS, president of Sinn Fein, has been holding a
frantic series of meetings with the people who, as Adams says,
"made the struggle, made the sacrifices and made the big
commitment"--in short, the I.R.A. So far, he is getting a mixed
reaction, but he is confident that he will ultimately bring them
along.

--By Barry Hillenbrand/Belfast

How To Blow $50 Billion Without Even Trying

Last week the government announced that it will have a $50
billion budget surplus. The pols immediately began arguing over
how best to spend it. How often do we get our hands on a
windfall like this? Here are some ways we could just blow it!

Build a taxpayers' monument; list all 270 million of our names

Purchase a castle in Germany to time-share: we'll each get
1.36 minutes

Stand a national round of drinks every Friday for a year

Buy Bill Gates. We'll share his future income--and he can do
tech support